Can anyone help me with ALYSSUMS (Lobularia Maritima)?

I have started growing some alyssums inside to transplant when the weather warms up. I have never grown these flowers before.
I started them march 5th and some of them came up right away and grew very good. Some of them have not come up at all and the ones that have got about an inch tall and are dying. I have no idea what i'm doing wrong. Can anyone give me any info recommendations or advice?
It would be greatly appreciated. Thank you.

Can you post a picture of the ones that aren't doing well? One of the most common things that will happen with seedlings is called "damping off". This happens when things are a little too wet and the seedlings get a fungal infection. The main symptom is if you look at the base of the stem where it comes out of the soil it will look skinnier than the higher up part of the stem. For the ones that haven't come up at all--not every single seed you start will germinate so it could be normal, or maybe the seeds got buried too deep or got too wet and rotted before they could germinate.

I planted 30 different cups and only about 10 of them came up.
How much water do they generally need? I have been keeping the soil fairly damp.
How soon do I need to thin them I was told just to let them grow and the healthier seed
would choke out the smaller ones???
I can get a picture tomorrow, but they basically look like they are just wilting and dying,
do you think i'm keeping the soil to damp? The package says 7-14 days to sprout so if
they have not came up by now should I replant or just wait and see if they still come up?
Sorry so many questions I love growing things but i'm very new and not real good at it,
so any help I can get is appreciated more than you know
Thank you

My guess would be you're keeping things too wet since that's probably the #1 most common problem that people have with seedlings, and wilting can be a symptom of too much water. For the cups that haven't come up yet--you're barely at 14 days so I wouldn't give up on them yet, although if there were multiple seeds in each cup and none of them have come up then it's possible that they rotted if you are keeping things too wet. As far as thinning them, I think they will grow better if you thin them out vs letting nature take its course. It's easier to thin them out when they're still small since you can do it more easily without doing accidental damage to the roots of the seedlings you're keeping.

Here are a couple articles on seed starting that you may find helpful
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/277/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/464/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/556/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/862/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/914/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/941/
http://davesgarden.com/guides/articles/view/1135/

Thank you so much for your help, I know i've said it before but this is much appreciated.
I am a mother of 4 small boys and I live in the country and my husband farms and is gone from sun up to sun down. Gardening is not only something I love to do but it is pretty much my only outlet. So when things don't go so good with gardening I get very anxious and worried you could say. It makes me nervous that I might be so bad at it that I won't be able to do it and then there goes the only sane part of my life. So when I say thank you I really mean it.
Thanks again!

Try to remember that a tiny plant has a tiny root. Too much water and they can't get the air that they need. When you do water, they need just a bit.

I've been in your shoes with the little ones and a two job husband, don't try to be perfect, just live day to day. Experienced gardeners kill plenty of plants along the way, I promise.
Sending hugs, Cathy4

Don't stress out about it--everyone has to live and learn when it comes to gardening so you're going to make some mistakes and some things are going to die. Even great gardeners still kill things, so just learn from your mistakes and keep trying. You'll have a beautiful garden before you know it! This website is great, most times when people have a problem someone out there will know what's going on and give you tips on how to fix it (or how not to do it again next time if it's past saving, etc). Gardening is really something that anyone can do--it may not feel that way when you're first starting out but you'll continue to learn and before you know it you'll start having all sorts of success. And seed starting is actually kind of tricky--it seems like it ought to be simple, but I find seeds and seedlings a lot harder to take care of than grownup plants so don't feel bad if it takes a few tries before you start having good luck with them.

Relax a little and enjoy it. You are trying to get nature to do what you want it to! I killed many,many, many plants and had a lot of failed experiments before I got it "right". I took it all as learning experieces and just tried to have fun while I was doing it. My first couple years starting seeds was an awful mess...a lot of time they never even made it in the ground. Alyssum was one of the seeds I used to start inside all the time. I always seeded to thick and the plants would kill each other or rot. Not enough air circulation, room, and had to fight for nutrients. They look really small when they first germinate, but they will turn into larger plants. Alyssum started inside looks really nice, but now I direct sow outside. They germinate pretty easily and they flower so quickly that it's easier to start outside. Just make sure you thin them into individual plants. If you leave them all growing, they get kind of tall and leggy. The white alyssum-carpet of snow is easier than the colored varieties-don't know why. Have you tried any other seeds indoors or just Alyssum?

Have and hopefully will not have much watering problems in the future.
I watered soil for seeds. It's too much water! The soil stayed wet or stays wet too long. It was ok for MG but other seeds have problems with this much water to start.
Am going to just mist top to how deep seeds were planted and not bottom water till seedlings are stronger. Hope this works better.

Alyssums are fast-growing and cold-hardy so if starting them indoors isn't working out you can just sow them direct in the garden. I found that they self-sowed and I had all kinds of "free" plants the second year.

Good luck!

Rosemary thanks, how long did he alyssum flower?

The alyssum kept flowering like mad until late autumn--it flowered longer than anything else in the garden. :)

Mine were the last flower left-they actually survived the first couple 'light' freezes. If they get a little leggy, cut back by half and they reflower pretty quickly. I liked my free plants the next year. I had quite a few of them and decided to move some to another bed, they transplanted pretty good.

Thanks, am going to try them!! Sounds like a great little plant!!

It also smells lovely, sort of like honey.

happyamerican
Water your plant from the bottom by standing them in a container of water. Pour some water on top to start the syphoning from below. Then wait until the top soil is almost dry before you water again. If damp on top, then the soil below contains more miosture. more moist.

Many gardeners water from the top only. The problem is that when soil in a container dries out, the soil shrinks away from the sides of the pot. When you apply water from the top, the water just runs down the sides and don't penetrate the whole root ball and roots die. Standing the pot in water, prevents that.

ecrane3, you have to be one of the most helpful people in Dave's. I see your answers all over the site. p. s. you must have alot of time to spend on the computer! lol

response to gaddict: I'm not sure about ecrane, but I have spring fever. It's too cold to get started planting, but some of the perennials are coming up. I can't get out there and really do anything yet, but at least I can chat about it lol

X, take some pictures and share, it helps a little!

I have spring fever too...lucky for me though it's warm enough here that I can actually get out in the garden and do some things. Mostly it's just been pulling weeds though...winter is our rainy season and the weeds go crazy in late winter/early spring. So I proctrastinate on weeding by spending time chatting on here instead! LOL

Every year I say "This year I'm gonna get it all cleaned up in fall so I don't have to do it in spring" Never happens.....

Fall clean up is always a dilemna for me. I never know whether to clean up or not. Depending on the viewpoint, some say to leave everything as is to provide winter shelter & food for the wildlife & some say to clean up to avoid bad insects, disease. I'd appreciate some other opinions.

I like to clean up in spring, the standing dead branches look nice with snow on them. And I know where my plants are in the spring! Did wreck a few when I had no dead branches to remind me to be careful.

I guess it's not that bad waiting 'til spring. It's given me something to do when it's warm outside, but still too cold at night to plant anything.

Planted some allysiums in house, hopefully I did it right!
Just sprinkled them on top of soil and put into sun..
Am being more careful with the watering..will get it right eventually.

geraldine87-think I read somewhere you said you were going to try top-misting instead, I think you'll have great success-Alyssum seem to be popular on DG, my OH hates them, but I love them and keep on planting them every year.

Thanks Melissa, got some great looking pansies, the flowers were very big, at Lowe's after work. I spend my check there! Oh well, we do have to help out mother nature. Got 6 packs for 1.88, never saw big flowers like these before in the 6 packs. Even gave sister one for her birthday! Great colors too!!
Still misting and hoping that it does the trick. Warm up to 60 and sunny today in MA....will rake at church and check out new plants comming up. Will have to move some. Do love being outside in sun!

My OH jokes around and says I should just get a job there. I try to be good, but I can't help it. It's pretty bad when the cashiers recognize me by mid-summer....
Have you ever tried using a water meter? They're like $10. You'd have to be really careful using on seedlings so you don't disturb the roots, but it really helps. No more guessing!

Planted the allysums in pots and they are already up!
Did as directions said, just placed on top of soil...Wow!!
I just might get the hang of starting seedlings with all your help.
Thanks!

It's official, you are hooked. Welcome to the club.

thank you Cathy, am going to mist them with some 'chamomile tea'!